WB minister loses close acquaintance in AMRI fire

Kolkata: Octogenarian Raj Kumar Biswas was
the first person to inform West Bengal minister Firhad Hakim
about the massive fire from his bed in AMRI hospital but could
not save himself as the thick, acrid smoke suffocated him to
death on Friday.

The urban development minister said he lost the close
acquaintance, who was like his uncle.

"He made frantic calls to my residence from his mobile
phone around 4.30 am from the hospital bed to do something for
him, but by then the smoke had already enveloped the entire
second floor," Hakim, who went to the hospital in the early
hours, said.

Hakim, who supervised the rescue operation with the help
of the local people of Panchanan Tala, went to the bed by five
am only to find a lifeless body of 82-year-old Biswas.